thelastword@msnbc.com, and you can follow my tweets @lawrence. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" tonight, from new york. a huge new development in the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman's attorneys, they have quit the case and they say they've lost contact with the shooter. zimmerman isn't talking to his attorneys, but you won't believe who he is talking to. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> as of now, we are withdrawing as counsel for mr. zimmerman. we've lost contact with him. >> george zimmerman's attorneys are out. sean hannity is in. >> we learned that he had called sean hannity of fox news directly. >> we'll have all the latest on the bizarre turn in the trayvon martin case. how's everybody doing today?! >> the president lets loose on the buffett rule. >> do we give another $50,000 in tax breaks to every millionaire and billionaire in the country?

>> no! >> and today, republicans dusted off w. to provide the response. >> if you raise taxes on the so-called rich, you're really raising taxes on the job creators. >> joan walsh on the president's hard-hitting speech in florida and richard wolffe on the return of george w. bush. >> what i don't like to be done is beaten on a ride by a one-legged veteran. senator frank loutenberg says he's got the goods on the governor, and he's here tonight. rick santorum is cutting and running, but not before he trashed the party. >> imagine, had mitt romney been around at the time that we were drafting our constitution. he'd have just shaken it and shook it up after it was approved to rewrite it. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the word is "bizarre," a very bizarre twist in the trayvon martin case. the shooter, george zimmerman, has gone rogue and his lawyers

have had enough. late today, they cut ties with their client. >> as of now, we are withdrawing as counsel for mr. zimmerman. we've lost contact with him. up to this point, we've had contact every day. he has gone on his own. i'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to, but at this point, we're withdrawing as counsel. >> it's not so much that we're resigning, we're just announcing to you that we can no longer represent him, until such time as he may come forward and ask for that help more formally and in a different context than we've had so far. >> not only has zimmerman stopped responding to his attorneys, they don't even know where he is. they say he's still in the united states, but apparently he's not in florida anymore. >> so i will not tell you where george zimmerman is, because i don't know. but for those who were engaged in the late easter egg hunt looking for him, they can stop looking in florida. look much further away than that. >> that statement is a huge concern for the martin family. one of their attorneys, benjamin crump, addressed it in an

interview earlier tonight on this network with al sharpton. >> they are concerned that george zimmerman, the man who killed their son, reverend sharpton, is unaccounted for. his lawyers can't account for his whereabouts. he won't return their calls. and is he a flight risk? will he ever be brought to justice, if and when he is charged, for killing their son? >> zimmerman seems to be taking matters completely into his own hands. he apparently defied his lawyer's advice and personally called the special prosecutor in charge of the trayvon martin case. >> one of the things every defense attorney tells his client is, don't talk to the prosecutors, don't talk to the cops. frankly, don't talk to anybody until we get control of the situation and do it through counsel. we were a bit astonished and had some conversations back and forth with the special prosecutor's office. and they told us what was expected was, we're not going to talk to a potential defendant or

suspect or target of an investigation without counsel. we're just not going to do it. and they told him that. >> but there is one guy who's taking zimmerman's calls. >> we learned that he had called sean hannity of fox news directly, not through us, and we believe -- i can't confirm this -- but we believe we spoke directly with sean, off the record, and he's not even willing to tell us what our client told him. >> zimmerman is ditching his lawyers, but he's talking to hannity? i guess wi i guess we shouldn't be surprised. hannity made it clear whose side he was on when he played the role of defense attorney in a softball interview with george zimmerman's father last week. >> do you think this has all been a rush to judgment by the media? you obviously have spoken to your son. tell us his side this of story on this night. is it true that your son would tutor african-american and minority children on the weekend? trayvon confronted him, he

reached for his cell phone, and trayvon -- this is confirmed. he broke -- his nose was broken. and is it true that he had lacerations and injuries to the back of his head, sir? none of us were there and i know people are trying to put this together, but i would argue that there's been a rush to judgment. >> what was the question, sean? get your questions out, folks, i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will george zimmerman ever face justice? text "a" for yes and "b" for no to 622639 or go to ed.msnbc.com and leave a comment. i'm joined tonight by mike papantonio, and dan gelber, former florida state senator and former federal prosecutor. great to have you with us tonight. mike, is this a reasonable move by zimmerman's attorneys to step out after not being able to get in contact with him for some 48 hours? >> ed, the safest thing these guys should have done is just

said, these are irreconcilable differences. whether it's safe or not, it's tough to say right now. what they've potentially done is prejudiced zimmerman by these statements. understand, he's going to face a bond hearing in front of a judge at some point. the judge is going to be asking him about this idea of his own attorneys not being able to find him. second thing they're going to be asking is this description that they have a client that's suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome. so the best thing to do in a situation like this is simply say, we have irreconcilable differences, we're pulling out. the last thing you want is a loose cannon like zimmerman talking to another loose cannon like sean hannity. sean hannity is a polarizing character. and any defense lawyer is going to tell you, you want to go into a trial as neutral as you can. sean hannity may not believe this, but there are many jurors that are appalled by sean hannity. and simply having his name associated with this is a problem for zimmerman, as i see it. >> mr. gelber, what would motivate a potential defendant

to want to make direct contact with the prosecuting attorney after his attorneys hold him not to do that? >> an utter lack of judgment. and that's the some way to explain it. i mean, if he's going to represent himself, then he truly has a fool for a client. because he doesn't have any of the expertise to navigate these waters and the idea that he would go directly to the prosecutor, and equally confounding, to go to someone like sean hannity, as if that's going to help him, is just so -- i mean, it reflects that this man really is irresponsible and has no judgment. >> well, mike, what about sean hannity's involvement now? how legally involved is he? because it would seem to me the question by anybody in the legal community would be, sean, what did you ask him and what did he say. >> exactly. there's no client -- attorney/client privilege here. everything this man says, every utterance becomes what they call an admission. and that admission can come in

many different forms. hannity can try to spin it however he can, but a good prosecutor can take any admission and usually make it work against the person accused. this guy is looking at potential life sentence, with second-degree murder, with a firearm in florida is a potential life sentence. if it's manslaughter with a weapon, ed, he's looking at 30 years. and you have him out there like a crazy man, talking to other crazy people, like sean hannity, who has the potential to deep six his defense. he has a great defense right now. zimmerman has a plausible defense, because of the incompetence of the state attorney's office, because of the incompetence of the police department. but he's losing that edge, and no matter what these defense lawyers do, to try to advise him, he's not going to listen to him. both your other guests and i have seen it many times in criminal defense cases. they simply don't listen. >> mr. gelber, as a prosecuting attorney, how important is it that someone has spoken to

george zimmerman and asked him questions? >> well, listen, prosecutors often will go to trial without any statement from the defendant. so the idea that there are people out there who are going to be given the account that he's given means that he's tethered to that. it makes it much harder for his defense lawyers to put on a defense. it helps the prosecution immensely. and remember something, this is a tough case to begin with, because of the ridiculous stand your ground law in florida. so this at least will maybe swing that pendulum a little bit back in the other way if those statements are ever revealed to the prosecutors. >> here's hannity on his radio show, revealing that he has spoken to the shooter. >> people are trying to make this all about george zimmerman. and i spoke to george zimmerman. and i'm not going to reveal the contents of that conversation. but i have confirmed, yes, he was a mentor to minority children. now, if you were a racist, i think you would be a mentor to minority children. >> mr. gelber, i have to ask, as a prosecutor, if sean hannity is

saying that he's not going to reveal the conversation, that would only pique my interest into, what did he the tell you? >> and the lawyers may get involved. and who knows who else he's spoken to. i mean, i think it just -- you've got an out of control client at this point, and i understand why the lawyers want to get out of the case. i agree that laying out their client may not have been the best way to do it, but i understand why when they were communicating with him, they were lawyers without a client for all intents and purposes. >> all right, mike, let's say you're defending george zimmerman. this guy has disregarded the advice of his attorney, just like he disregarded the advice of the 911 operator who told him not to follow trayvon martin. how difficult does it make for the defense attorney? >> the defense has -- the best defense here, ed, is that the forensics on the case, the lack of real police work, the lack of what the state attorney's office did gives zimmerman a plausible defense. stand your ground law gives him a plausible defense. right now, it's very defensible.

but as mr. gelbers pointed out, the more he talks, every word he speaks just gives the prosecutor another edge. what he has now, ed, he has a bunch of flying monkeys flying around his case. he even has a website out that really attracts like skinheads, white supremacists to give to his defense. the whole point of the prosecution is, is this is a murder that took place and racism was part of the reason the murder took place. he has flying monkeys all over his case right here, his defense lawyers, i'm certain that, look, they messed up in saying too much at that press conference. no question about it. but, really, they have an out of control client. mr. gelbers had him. i've had him before. they're tough to control. and zimmerman is his worst enemy. it's getting worse by the day, every time he speaks. >> one of the attorneys, mr. uhrig compared the zimmerman

case toot famous florida case. >> we hope the best for george zimmerman and the best for the martin family as well. when this case is eventually over, and just like casey anthony, it will eventually be over, it's our hope that the martin family can begin completing the grieving process for their son and that george can get his life reinstated a little bit. >> dan, what does it tell you about zimmerman's lawyers that they're comparing this to casey anthony? >> well win hope there are no book deals in the offing for anybody. but, listen, this guy is out of control. and unfortunately for him, and fortunately for the prosecution, he's acting right now with the same kind of lack of judgment that they're going to claim, if they do charge him, that he exercised on the night he shot and killed trayvon martin. >> mike papantonio, dan gelber, great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time on "the ed show." remember to answer tonight's question there on the bottom of the screen. share your comments on twitter @edshow. up next, did zimmerman's former attorneys affect a

potential case against george zimmerman? john butchko joins me. and former president george w. bush, he's back at it, and he's trying to explain why the bush tax cuts shouldn't be called the bush tax cuts anymore. but he seems to be a little confused. stay tuned. we're right back. this mio energy is completely crushing my game. i take the stuff everywhere. exactly. everyone's more energized, more alert. i've lost their respect. oh who's laughing now!? gazelle!! [ male announcer ] personal, portable mio energy. [ gazelle laughs ] monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from nationa because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go.

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yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. welcome back to "the ed show." we have some breaking news to report at this moment. special prosecutor in the case of killing of an unarmed florida teen. special prosecutor in the case of killing of an unarmed florida teen says she will call a news conference within the the next 72 hours to release new information. that being reported by reuters tonight. that news coming to us from reuters. within the next 72 hours, the special prosecutor, angela corey, will hold a news conference to release new information with within 72 hours. coming up, what do george zimmerman's ex-lawyers' comments mean for the case? i'll talk to retired homicide

detective, john butchko next. the president hit the trail today, speaking out on the buffett rule and tax fairness. joan walsh and here with the latest. and a new report reveals that chris christie lied about the cost of a commuter rail project in order to kill it. senator frank lautenberg of new jersey called for the study. he joins me later. shar your thoughts with us on twitter using the #edshow. we'll be right back. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. [ male announcer ] bravo, alex. you're officially an actress.

and waitress, dog walker, and flier-hander-outer. but mostly an actress. you just booked the coveted role of coffee patron #4. i even have a line. my line is, "latte, please." i don't know. is she french? you know? "latte, please." [ male announcer ] good thing at&t gives you unlimited calling to any mobile, so you can call everyone. i know i have to say latte, but i feel like my character would drink tea. ♪ [ male announcer ] get unlimited calling to any mobile phone on any network when you get unlimited messaging. rethink possible. nothing that we're saying here today is going to change the evidence. nothing we're saying here today is going to change the law. if we're correct and we believe we are as to what we've said so far, the evidence that you have seen and the evidence that we have reason to believe that exists is in the possession of the prosecutor and law enforcement, taken together, and

applied to the law. we frankly believe that the correct decision will be to not charge him. >> george zimmerman's former attorney says their statement today will not influence a potential case against zimmerman. but at the same time, they called george zimmerman's mental well-being into question. >> our concern is that more him to do this, when he's got a couple of professionals out there working as hard as we were for his benefit, to handle it this way suggests that he may not be in complete control of what's going on. we're concerned for his emotional and physical safety. >> in another surprising revelation, attorney hal uhrig said the lawyers never met face to face with their client. >> probably a 99.44 to 100% of the cases you meet with your client, sign a representation agreement, and represent them after that. however, for attorneys that practice here in central florida, with 50 million tourists a year coming to disney and universal and often times

getting arrested and flying us home and hiring us from california or europe, it is not totally unusual to not meet with your client personally. we do it all the time. >> let's bring in john butchko, a retired miami police department homicide detective. john, good to have you with us tonight. as an investigator, did the attorneys' statements impact a potential case against george zimmerman, from what you can see? >> well, it's a pleasure being here. no, from what i can see, from their statements, what they say really means nothing to the case, especially what they're saying to the media and during these press conferences. however, should he be charged and should this case go before a jury, by saying those exact words in front of a jury could influence that jury to find the defendant not guilty. however, the case is going to be based on the physical evidence, on the angles of the shot, the injuries to mr. zimmerman, and a variety of other information, which will be important to a jury. defense lawyers all the time

will talk about a case in front of a jury. they'll tell the jury some things that are not true and they'll try to discredit the police officers on the stand and go from there. so it will mean something in front of a jury, but not here in the media. >> let's bring back mike papantonio, attorney and host of ring of fire radio show, and also dan gelber, former florida state senator and former federal prosecutor. gentleman, the story tonight now is that the prosecuting investigator is going to hold a press conference within the next 72 hours to release new information. mike, your response to that? >> well, it's all adding up to where there's really a real potential, it's hard to read tea leaves, other than to say i think there's probably going to be an indictment. this is a prosecutor who said, we don't need a grand jury. i have the facts in front of me. they've looked at the facts. she's very capable. i would be amazed if there's not some indictment that comes out.

i'm sure this is a prosecutor that's also concerned about the public relations circus that's taken place here. and she feels like she has to get out there. she has to say, look, hold on. i've looked at it. in 72 hours, i'm going to give you an answer, to maybe calm this three-ring circus down just a little bit. i think that's probably what's at work here. >> dan, your thoughts on this. 72 hours, is that rather strange that she would put a time frame on when she's going to release new information? >> well, it's going to create a lot of anticipation and even more scrutiny and interest. in this case, though, there's so much of it, it may not matter either way. but i do think, however, talking to mike's point, look, there's no question this is going to be a tough case if it's brought. but if she believes that this guy committed a crime, then she ought to bring the charges, even if it's a tough case. there's no reason not to bring a tough case, if you believe and are convinced that there's been a crime. and i think she may be leaning

that way, just based on some of the things that we've been hearing and seeing. >> i got to ask you, mr. butchko, as an investigator, now that george zimmerman has spoken to someone who happens to have a radio and a television show, wouldn't that take the prosecutors or the investigators right to that host to ask him some questions? i mean, he's not bound by any attorney/client information. he could be withholding some information. who knows? wouldn't you want to interview him? >> that's right. and any information that george zimmerman gives to anyone, other than his attorneys, is information that the prosecutors could gather. you would serve a subpoena to whoever this person is, bring them in, and interview them as to what was said to them by mr. zimmerman, and that information could be used against mr. zimmerman, or in his favor, on the other hand. >> and mike, earlier today, the attorneys for zimmerman said that they apparently contacted hannity and he wouldn't tell them what the conversation was about. what do you make about that?

>> yeah, first of all, these are very capable criminal defense attorneys. have they done a little more -- have they said more than i would want them to say? the answer's yes. but the very fact -- this is all about hannity. see, hannity at this point could not care less about zimmerman. this is about hannity. hannity has taken this thing, this terrible tragedy, he's turned it toward being a sean hannity story, which is very characteristic of sean hannity. in the process, what he's done is he's prejudiced the -- he's prejudiced zimmerman, for sure, in the end, you're going to see the polarizing effect of a guy like hannity has big ramifications, it has big legs. i don't care how hard you try to pick a fair and impartial jury. he's very polarizing. you want to go in, as i said, with a neutral story. you don't want a guy like hannity who is a loose cannon trying to try this case in the public. not for zimmerman, ed, but for fox news and for hannity. >> all right. john butchko, mike papantonio,

dan gelber, thanks for your time tonight. appreciate it. president obama is calling out republicans for stomping on middle class in order to benefit the wealthy. salon's joan walsh joins me next. the guy who told reporters they'd be better off sarasovoti president obama over mitt romney ends his bid for the gop nomination. we'll go back -- he goes back on his word in support of the mystery. stay with us. [ female announcer ] philadelphia cooking creme. a simple way to make dinner fresh and new again.

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if you make more than $1 million a year, and i'm not saying you have $1 million, right? i'm not saying you saved up, you know, all your money and you made smart investments and now you've got your nest egg and you're preparing for retirement -- i'm saying, you're bringing in $1 million or more a year, then what the rule says is you should pay the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. >> president obama on a roll, urging the senate to go with the buffett rule. it makes millionaires with low tax rates pay an overall rate of 30%. at a speech in south florida, the president described some of the things the country could pay for if millionaires paid their fair share. prescription drug savings for the elderly, medicare for veterans, salaries for firefighters and police officers, financial aid for

students, and a whole lot more. >> if you hear them saying, well, the president's making this stuff up. no, we're doing the math. if they want to dispute anything that i've said right now, they should show us specifically where they would make those cuts. >> president obama didn't mention any republicans by name, but his message will be central to the general election. there was any doubt as to president obama's general election opponent will be, rick santorum wiped it away today. >> we made a decision to get into this race at our kitchen table and against all the odds, and we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting. we are going to continue to fight for those voices. we're going to continue to fight

for the americans who stood up and gave us that air under our wings that allowed us to accomplish things that no political expert would have ever expected. >> i'm joined by joan walsh, editor at large, salon.com. the great joan walsh. great to have you in studio here in new york. >> it's so much fun. >> all right. rick santorum, he just didn't have confidence to go home on home turf to face romney. what's that all about? >> no. and you know, what was so funny, they revealed this ad that the last ad that romney was going to drop on him, the last cluster bomb that just called him a loser in his home state. and that's what was happening. he was seeing the polls. but when i saw that ad, i thought, this poor guy. and romney has made himself an enemy with this one last nasty dig. he's made it very hard for them to come together. he said nothing about romney today. >> well, he also, i think that santorum did not want to give mitt romney the street credibility of being able to go to the convention and say, what are you talking about, a

brokered convention? the guy that was closest to beating me in the dealegate count, i beat him in his home state. >> right. he absolutely wiped him off the map today. and i think that's good for romney. but at the same time, we saw president obama set up this perfect choice. and you and i have talked about this for a long time. mitt romney is the poster boy for the top 1%, he's the poster boy for the buffett rule. we're going to have a lot of talks about fairness and also the opportunity the tax fairness provides. >> and the president obviously banking on income inequality big more important to people about the deficit. will it work? >> yeah, i think it will work. you know, the third way group, they're a nice pragmatic democratic group. they're really saying income inequality is a losing issue and that he shouldn't talk about it so much. i think the way the president does it is perfect, though. he does tie it to opportunity. he does tie it to what those tax dollars could pay for, to create the middle class that existed for you and me when we were growing up. >> isn't president obama facing

the perfect candidate, mitt romney, for the conditions of the country right now, to depict, you know, where the vulture chart is that we show so much versus the middle class? i mean, this is a guy who really has got, what, a tax rate of 13.9%? and he also has a tax policy that is only going to help those redlen liners? >> it's only going to help him. absolutely. it's the perfect candidate, the perfect time. and rick santorum too. he called mitt, he derided mitt as a wall street financier. it's a good day for the president. >> paul ryan, the house budget chair from wisconsin spoke about the president's recent speeches on the "today" show. here it is. >> you know, we've gotten kind of used to this sort of verbal tantrums from the president. to me, it's a little more p petulance than presidential -- >> but why is he targeting you? >> i think we're offering a solution, so our solutions

points out the fact that he hasn't offered any solutions to these problems. >> your response? >> he called the president petulant? have you ever heard of projection, ed, when you don't like something, when someone -- because it's something about yourself? paul ryan is the most petulant character in washington. he's so thin skinned. and he was also deriding the president today because the buffett rule won't collect enough revenue. his budget doesn't collect any revenue. >> it doesn't. and there's nothing in the ryan budget that polls beyond 50%. i mean, it is not a popular budget. that's not where the country is, to attack the big three. 67% of americans want to see the wealthiest americans pay more when it comes to taxes. and that goes exactly the opposite of where the republicans are, with the budget that came out of the house, the ryan plan. but to go after the president like this, does this show that they're weak on game, but they have nothing else to make him the target? >> they have to game. their game is going to be that the economy is still in a tough

place. and we know that. that's what he inherited. he's made it better. as long as it's as things are ticking up for the unemployment rate is ticking down, he's in pretty good shape. he's not out of the woods. democrats cannot be come polili sent about this, though. >> because of the money. citizens united and keeping up with the money is going to be hard. >> because of the suffering. a lot of people are still in a tough place. you and i both know that. >> yes, they are. but i think that ryan is pretty much proving the president's point with some of the things that he's saying. no doubt. joan walsh, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> thanks, ed. we believe that all freedom is universal. in other words, we strongly believe in the concept of the universality of freedom. >> coming up, george bush is back and he's still not making any sense. rick santorum is cutting and running. >> this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today. >> ahead, we'll bid him a fond farewell. and chris christie gets busted deceiving the people of

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♪ i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts. if they were called some other body's tax cuts, they're probably less likely to be raised. >> but wait a minute, now. george w. bush sure loved them being called the bush tax cuts when he was president. but now the country, i think, is realizing what a bad idea they really were. i guess you just see things differently once you've been out of the white house for a while. that, of course, was former president bush today in new york, speaking a t the new york hysterical -- i mean, the new york historical society. i wrote that. he's back. and he's bringing back the greatest hits of the bush presidency. you know, like the job creators. >> if you raise taxes on the so-called rich, you're really

raising taxes on the job creators. >> oh, yeah, bush's economic policy worked so well, it helped create the worst recession since the great depression. look at all the jobs created under george w. bush, when he cut taxes on the so-called job creators. the former president spoke about the bush presidential center and its support for veterans. but then he said this. >> i'm taking a bunch of bets mountain bike riding in the palo dera canyon. and you know, i love to mountain bike riding. what i don't like to be done is be beaten on a mountain bike ride by a one-legged veteran, but it's likely to happen. >> well, in the iraq war alone, there were more than 4,400 american troops killed and more than 32,000 troops wounded. bush has stayed largely out of the limelight since president obama took office. >> i don't think it's good, frankly, for our country to undermine our president and i don't intend to do so. but i do intend to remain involved in areas that i'm

interested in. >> and the former president also answered a question he is frequently asked. >> you know, i'm often asked, do you miss the presidency? i really don't. >> "i really don't." let's turn to msnbc political analyst, richard wolffe. it's like an old highlight film, isn't it? that's the same guy, isn't it, richard? >> unchanged. his arguments hasn't changed. look, i was there in 2000 when he would go out there and say, it's not the government's money, it's the people's money! it turned out to be china's money when it comes to tax cuts. but still, he's making the same arguments he made ten years ago. >> it's hard to know where to begin after two wars. i don't think the former president should be making a joke about a one-legged veteran. or was there something i'm missing here? >> no, you would think that after the period of self-reflection that would come at the end of a presidency, he might be able to take things differently. but that's who he is. he was always this cut up, he

always had an inappropriate sense of humor, and it was, you know, we heard paul ryan call the president petulant, the current president petulant, but there was always a childlike sense of humor about president bush. and the seriousness of occasions often sort of escaped him. not necessarily when he was doing his visits to hospitals, of course, but to make light of something like the war in iraq and its terrible legacy is strange, but that's who he always was. >> let's go back to the tax cuts, which he's pushing hard for right now. even though he doesn't want them to be called the bush tax cuts anymore. his philosophy is still the same. he never argued that calling them the bush tax cuts was a problem back then when they were actually taking place in 2001 and 2003, and of course, what they thought was economic growth for the top 2%. what do you think? >> a couple of things. he seemed to be making the argument in his speech that they were a form of stimulus. and it could well be that, you

know, to some degree, this president, president obama, will say, you know, we need to keep those middle class tax cuts, that piece of the bush tax package, in place, because the economy isn't strong enough at the end of this year to take them all out of circulation. but the stimulus argument is not, in fact, what conservatives are saying right now. what they're saying is they'll pay for themselves. it's just the right thing to do. and never mind the fact that disproportionately, in terms of the cash, that millionaires and billionaires are the ones that benefit. it's a weird piece of philosophy, because he's arguing for something now, but he's not in line with the conservative ideology of his own party. >> here's more words of wisdom on economic policy. >> the pie grows, the debt relative to the pie shrinks, and with fiscal discipline, you can better solve your current account deficits and your entitlements. >> we're getting a good lecture on deficits, aren't we?

>> yeah, here's a guy who again in 2000, he said he wanted to make the pie higher for everyone. i'm not still sure what he meant by that. but, you know, growth is an interesting argument. growth will deal with deficits. i think that's what he's trying to say in terms of the economics he's putting out there. but, again, what you're hearing from his own party is that growth isn't the most important thing. that cutting the deficits is the most important thing. again, if you look at him now, as conservative as he was, you've got to ask yourself, could he win the nomination of his own party today? i think the answer to that is no. >> finally, the former president on the lessons he's learned. >> here's a lesson, by the way. in life, you're going to be dealt a hand you don't want to play. it's going to happen to all of us. it certainly happens when you're president. the question is not if you're going to be dealt the hand, the question is, how do you play it. >> "how do you play it." >> look, i actually do have some

respect, a lot of respect for this former president. for one reason right now in his post-presidency, he has stayed out of the limelight, he has refrained from criticizing the president, president obama, in the way that many in his party has done. and he seems to let history wash over him as if he was a passive creature. that's what's still most mystifying. here's someone who chose to invade iraq, we still don't know the reasons, but that's the hand he was dealt, i guess. >> richard wolffe, good to have you with us. thank you so much. we'll have breaking news on the trayvon martin case. martin family attorney, darryl parks, is next. stay tuned. okay... is this where we're at now? we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one.

and breaking news out of florida tonight. the special prosecutor in the trayvon martin case has announced that she will hold a news conference within the next 72 hours. the mar tennessee family attorney darryl parks is here with reaction to that. stay with us. we're right back. new venus & olay.

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and breaking news tonight. florida special prosecutor angela corey will hold a news conference some time in the next 72 hours to release new information in the trayvon martin investigation. the announcement come on the heels of george zimmerman's attorneys dropping their client after he stopped responding to their calls. for more, let's bring in darryl parks, attorney for the family of trayvon martin. mr. parks, good to have you with us tonight. i've got to ask you directly, do you think that this is it? that charges are going to be brought forward within the next 72 hours? >> i'm very encouraged. i think that if you think about this case, ed, it was rather clear that most of them have set a deadline of today that we would get some type of a decision. i think the special prosecutor must have realized that and realized that she must give some information so we would have an indicator of when we'd get an announcement. and lo and behold, this evening, she did just that. she put out a statement that she

in the next 72 hours would have a major press conference to announce what she's going to do. we know from our personal information in this case that her investigators have been out talking to witnesses, have gathered a lot of the information. she's asked us to be patient with her in doing her investigation. so now she's come to the point where she is ready to give us a major decision and we're very enthusiastic about receiving that decision, because at the end of the day, george zimmerman shot trayvon martin and he remains free. and that's a problem. >> what about the 72 hours? isn't that rather unusual that she would put a time frame on it? >> well, she probably won't take the whole 72 hours. i think what most prosecutors do, they give themselves a nice wide, broad time set. then they have something to work within, and it's still at their discretion. >> all right. some very unusual and bizarre news

news and that is that george zimmerman's attorneys have distanced themselves from their client because he hasn't been communicating with them, but he has been talking to sean hannity. your action. >> he called the prosecutor too. he's been very noncomplaint. maybe that's not the type of information we should know as the public and opposing attorney. he will do what he wants to do. he will be noncome plants when he has instructions. very similar to what we have seen in the case when the dispatcher told him to stay in the vehicle and not follow trayvon and he followed him any way. >> he's pretty much a loose cannon from what you've seen? >> pretty much. i think the american public has to look at this and clearly see this is the type of guy that does what he wants to do? >> are you concerned about a flight risk? do you think he's a flight risk? >> very concerned. the only reason i have some assurance is when we met with the florida department of law enforcement about two and a half

weeks ago they told us that they knew the whereabouts of george zimmerman. this is an ongoing investigation. i'm pretty sure they have maintained that contact. >> thanks for your time. next up, chris christie says he killed a major infrastructure project because of the cost. now, a new report says he fudged the numbers. hi, i'm phil mickelson.

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i'm not going to put the taxpayers of our state on the hook for cost that are well in excess of what this was originally projected to be. >> that was governor chris christie of new jersey back in 2010 blocking a hudson river rail project that would have created thousands of johns, improved commuting for millions of workers and enhanced infrastructure. at the time, christie explained he was killing the project because of the cost but today we learned that was a lie. a report from the government accountability office concludes that christie exaggerated the price tag.

he cited estimates from the state transportation officials ranging from 11 to $14 billion. the gao report concludes the cost was no more than $10 billion. christi enflated new jersey's share of the cost. he said the state was on the hook for 70% of the project. well, it turns out the state would have paid just over 14% of the project. the project was killed after it had already begun. hundreds of millions of dollars had been spent the the decision didn't just impact the state of new jersey. it would have alleviated congestion from boston to washington, d.c. the only person this helped is governor chris christie. the same guy that will not raise

taxes on millionaires. today, he had no apologies. >> when they want to build a tunnel to the basement of macy's and stick the new jersey taxpayers with a bill of 3 to $5 billion over, no matter how much the administration yells and scream, you have to say no. you have to look them right in the eye and say no. you have to be willing to say no to those things that compromise your principles. >> i'm joined by new jersey senator, the chairman of the senate sub committee on surface transportation. good to have you with us tonight. >> nice to be here. >> there's a big difference between 70% and 14%. what's your reaction to the report? >> the gao report is done. it's a nonpolitical organization.

they are credible surveys. they say baloney. that's not the case. he misled the public in terms of what the cost might be. i had worked very hard and had several people to get the initial money. $6 billion, ed for that tunnel. we have worked already about $400 million worth just preparing. found out that he casually inexcuaby creating figures that didn't balance. >> did he lie to the public? >> he misled them. >> this was a big move on his part. >> it was a big move. it was deliberate. he had a mission for the funds that were going to come to the government, to the federal government and state government. >> you call this the most transportation project of our time. you also called the decision one

of the biggest public policy blunders in new jersey history. >> i believe that to be the case. >> how much fuel does this throw on that fire? what do you think the reaction will be? >> i think the reaction will be angry at governor christie. he owes the public an apology. we were working in 2009 on the tunnel. suddenly, he called it off. it would have been 22,000 cars a day off the road. it would have been 6,000 jobs immediately digging and shoveling. it would have resulted in 44,000 jobs for people to go from new jersey to new york and vice versa. >> great to have you with us tonight. that's "the ed show." the "the rachel maddow show" starts now. good evening. good evening. thanks very much. we have more on that ahead this hour. thanks. >> thank you. >> thanks for staying with us. for the next hour, if things look different, that's because